In late Oct, authorities announced nationwide measures designed to support sagging property prices, including a cut in the property deed tax and a reduction in the downpayment for people buying their first homes.

But results of the auction of seven parcels of land in Shanghai over the past week, the city's first land sale since the announcement, suggested these measures were not ending the market's slump, the newspaper reported.

Two parcels of residential land went unsold, while a choice piece of residential land in the city's Zhabei district was sold for 1.18 billion yuan (S$259 million) or 11,502.50 yuan per square metre, it said.

The newspaper quoted analysts as saying the level of secondary market home prices in the area suggested the Zhabei parcel would have sold for around 16,000 yuan per square metre if market conditions had been normal.

Property prices and transaction volumes have slumped in China this year as the economy and the stock market have weakened. In Sept, the average new home price in Shanghai fell 0.9 per cent from the previous month after a 0.1 per cent drop in Aug, according to the economic planning agency. -- THOMSON REUTERS